D169 archived entries

dismissive term for a person considered to be a cretin or a congenital idiot (from the hospital term "dead on arrival").

mysterious character said to live up the chimney. Like Santa or Daddy Crimbo, he might grant wishes. Da Ba was something parents gave children to think about, by way of distracting them from more troublesome topics, and in that Da Ba may have been a relative of Icky the Fire Bobby

a clever person, an expert

to be especially skillful at something

Father Christmas. "Dicky Crimbo" is as frequently heard these days.

an exclamation in response to an accident

Grandfather

to shear sheep

boots The full rhyming component is daisy roots

a low pass in football which travels almost parallel with the field floor

They will.

two bloody hells and a bugger: exclamation used by an extremely angry person.

stairs. A rhyming connection with stairs as "Fred Astaires" is likely here.

this refers to dandy-carts, a kind of spring cart used by milkmen in the 1920's.

male genitals. Cf. "Bits and pieces," "bits and bobs," "tackle."

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

a happily married, inseparable couple, usually elderly

That will.

Welsh people, because of the importance of the name David in that culture.

a newcomer

very, extremely; used for emphasis, as in "it's dead easy."

a name school children used to give to cakes filled with currants or sultanas.

alike, similar to. Perhaps a merger of "spitten image" and "dead ringer?"

a small portion of marijuana

this is a police term to describe the officer presenting a case history or an arrest summary.

derisory name for the borough of Wallasey, in Cheshire, but other places are often given the same "honour," for instances Pensby, and Wirral.

decorations

A cap with a big peak Spiegl notes that the term "letting board" comes from pigeon racing. The board protudes from the front of the pigeon loft for the pigeon to alight on. Elsewhere, pigeons are spoken of as "letting," i.e., alighting, on a rooftop. Actually, the decking is for landing on; the "letting" is there for a hindrance

decorations

the punishment block at Walton Prison

detective. Now somewhat obsolete

definitely

to see, look at, watch for (army slang, originally from Hindustani.)

They, these.

Liverpudlian for demoralized

oysters

soccer matches between two teams from the same town.

goiter caused by iodine deficiency

Pair of sandals.

a brown liquid household disinfectant; a proprietary name for germicidal liquids.

two pounds Also called a Dewybar

two pounds

two pounds

scrubbing meticulously. A dhobi wallah in India was a laundry man.

children's game, involving two sticks attached by a string on which an hourglass shaped top is played.

face

street-racing in a stolen car, an allusion to the phrase "dicing with death."

a dog known for its amorous successes.

penis

a word

bow tie

front seat of a horse-drawn wagon back seat, or rumble seat of a car

earlier term than Scouser for a Liverpudlian, Dicky Sam is understood to be a corruption of Dick O'Sam's derived from the Lancashire form of the patronymic. It refers to someone born and bred in Liverpool, within the sounds of the bells of St, Nicholas,.the waterfront parish church there. There is a record of one Richard Samuels, landlord of an old sailortown pub called the Dicky Sam Inn, which used to be on Mann Island, near the Pier Head.

shirt Dicky then becomes a term for a false shirtfront, according to Minard.

a rabbi Dickie die doo, which is rhyming slang for jew, may be the source here, but he allusion is also to circumcision. The dicky-docker is the moyl, i.e., the one who docks the dick

idiotic(mildly disparaging) Diddyman. A small man.

digital car radio, frequently an object of theft

gypsies. "didicoi" was a romany term for a traveling tinker

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

a stupid person

penis

an intensifying term, to imply the maximum of a certain characteristic. Other meanings for dinky: small, cute, neat, sweet, adorable

a slice of bread dipped in warm fat, usually bacon fat

pickpocket (national slang since early nineteenth century)

disdainful term for a male homosexual

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

receiving goods with the knowledge that they are stolen

dividend check

someone who is not intelligent

to be on the look-out for the police, for instance when a game of pitch and toss is going on.

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

to lose one's temper

to cause serious physical harm to someone

to break open and rob a gas or electric meter

we had a celebration (a party) last night.

to inform on someone

a documentary

to be in the hospital, undergoing treatment

dock worker

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

an indispensable identification tag in the casual labor market

a large loaf of bread

another word for pudding cake, but also see: "Chester Cake."

an inconsequential fight: all words and little more. It can also refer to an easy achievement, for instance an examination which turns out to be very easy, which in America would be called "a snap."

cash kept at home Source; LS4

eight-sided threepenny peace Dodger: bread or sometimes crude cake Dodger: spray shield on a ship's bridge

unreliable, doubtful, risky

cigarette butts

corned beef; dog wit' bite is corned beef with mustard

a corned beef sandwich

someone completely at the back and call of someone else To be "dogsbodying" is to be performingf menial tasks

the Walton Jail, also known as the Waldorf-Astoria, or the Wally

driving me crazy

running away "He did one" means "he escaped."

the necessary items. For instance, "Whur's ther doins?" Alternate expressions: whatzits, thingumajigs

five shillings, or a crown

scrubbed The allusion is to dolly-pegs and a dolly-tub, used for washing. The washing cubes used there were known as "dolly blues."

trifling cargo

a whitening agent for the wash

assorted variety of children's sweets

an injured finger which a child has bandaged

a wooden appliance with two arms, and legs or feet, used to stir and twirl clothes in the wash-tub, which is also called a dolly-tub. The Lancashire term for it was simply "dolly." Dolly pegs were sometimes carved and sold by gypsies.

Me dollypegs. My legs.

a somewhat archaic term for attractive young ladies

illicit pawn shop

wash tub

a quarrel between husband and wife, usually of a routine sort.

getting arrested

nickname for a football player with comparatively slow physical movements. The donkey may be at the same time a very effective player.

a soft stone, creamy or light grey, used for coloring doorsteps and window-ledges. "To donkey" means to use a stone to clean a surface.

No definition was supplied in the archived entry.

mentally deficient. See Doolally

nuts, crazy, a foolish person. According to Schur, Deolali was a sanitorium in Bombay to which, before the turn of the century, soldiers were sent while waiting to return home. The boredom there resulted in eccentric behavior, which led to the coinage "the Doolally tap"("tap" is Hindustani for fever). Today one often hears and sees written "dolallytat."

sandwich made with a long loaf of bread Cf. docker's doorstep

a large piece of bread

money or cash, an Australian usage

a flop house

sexual intercourse. It rhymes with "legover," or sexual intercourse.

to sleep

a loud knocking on the door

to be laughing uncontrollably about something. See also "pleats, to be in."

to be keeping watch for others who are performing a criminal operation

a lookout for a gambling operation, or some such

to be inexpensive

site of fisticuffs of a boozy Saturday night. To give someone "down the banks" is to give a strong scolding or a telling-off.

a quarrel

the outside loo or privy

watch, as in "keepin' dowse," or "douse."

stop it, look out, make ready to run

slow-witted, incompetent, dopey Dozy: dopey

a person with prominent or projecting teeth(from Dracula)

a maneuver to confuse an opposing player by dragging or flipping back the ball with one foot, then doing a half-turn and receiving it with the other, often "faking out" the player who is challenging.

usually this refers to an imperious or difficult woman, a virago, or sometimes, jovially,just "the wife."

to urinate

jeans, or generally, tight-fitting trouser, called drain-pipe trousers during the Teddy Boy era.

a small portion of marijuana; it can also refer to drugs generally

dressing room

a very powerful shot in football, sometimes with a spin on it to curve the trajectory.

what dockers thought the bosses were doing to them when they kept them around hoping for work.

vagina

slovenly, disheveled, unattractive

to frustrate someone or to drive them crazy.

one's house

cow "you auld drone," you old cow

a worthless person (Australian slang)

to make a mistake

a measure of whiskey

gratuity. Give der doorman is dropsy: Tip the commissionaire. It can also mean a bribe, or a tip to the ship's waiter..

a tin of corned beef beaten into mashed potatoes and fried.

a person with a subtle sense of humor; a wet sod would refer to a bore.

a slice of plain, uncoated bread, also called "blind sarney." See also: "bread butty."

trade name of a moisture seal for boots (and leather footballs).

a lavatory (from "double-u-c)

a search warrant, called such because it has a Liverbird at the top of the page.

Halloween

what a short-legged person is said to be suffering from

defective

to be pregnant. See also "pudding, to be in the." To be in the pudding or to be in the pudding club means to be pregnant.

feinting movement, designed to deceive an opposing team.

a child's pacifier

a very heavy snow storm

tallymen would deliver packages and secure signatures which really were an agreement to buy.

brand of male contraceptives

dare not, as in "naw, I dursent, me Mam sez I shouldn't oughter."

a football team which has nothing to recommend it

a reference to one's wife of long standing

any effective laxative.

a toilet plunger

a prison trustee LS4